‘And I thought the world of her, too. Oh, Luc, she’s going to leave such a gap in our lives.’ I fought back the tears as I thought of the last time Reggie and I had met. If only she’d opened up to me, told me what Akhmad was really like. If only I’d listened to my own instinct that something was actually very wrong – asked her outright whether he was violent. Maybe I could have helped, although how, I wasn’t sure. How do you persuade someone to leave an abusive partner unless they’ve made that decision for themselves? There were so many what-ifs. It was torture.

He nodded miserably, his eyes swimming with tears. Suddenly noticing someone behind me, he beckoned wildly. ‘Have you met Maryam?’

I looked round to see a willowy, elegant black girl weaving her way towards us. She was extraordinarily beautiful, but looked exhausted and utterly desolate.

‘Maryam, this is Stina, and her husband, Jack.’

Maryam smiled sadly, shaking Jack hesitantly by the hand. She bent forward to give me a tentative squeeze. Her slight frame felt so thin, I worried her bones might snap. I recognised Reggie’s signature perfume and hot tears sprang to my eyes.

‘I’ve heard a lot about you, Stina. It’s good to meet you at last. Reggie spoke very highly of you.’ Her English was perfect, the accent still heavily influenced by her African heritage.

‘She told me all about you, too. You made her very happy.’

‘And she brought me such happiness. We had so many plans …’ She broke down suddenly, burying her face in her hands.

I felt so sorry for the girl. I put my arms round her, and she wept as if her heart would break. Jack looked on awkwardly as we stayed like that for some time. Eventually she drew back, composing herself. She dragged the back of her hand across her eyes.

‘May I call on you?’ she asked me. ‘I’d like you to have something of Reggie’s – for a keepsake. I know you were very close.’

‘Of course. Luc will give you my number. You can come and spend a few hours in the country!’

‘I’ll look forward to it. I’m sorry we’ve had to meet under such circumstances.’

I watched her wend her way back towards a group of tall, expensively dressed girls waiting by a parked limousine. She turned to wave as they all climbed into the car and were whisked away.

Protesting his innocence, Akhmad had been arrested and was ‘helping police with their inquiries’. Reggie had sustained a fatal head injury. It appeared that she had fallen backwards and landed against the edge of the hearth, resulting in a basilar fracture of her skull, which in turn had caused a massive bleed on the brain.